1. Field
This invention relates generally to telecommunications, and more specifically, to a system to record and analyze voice message usage information.
2. Related Art
Voice mail systems, also known as voice message systems, gained popularity in the corporate world since its introduction in late 1970s. A user can leave a voice message at a voice mail system for another user without the assistance of an attendant or a secretary. Likewise, a user can listen to his or her voice messages from a voice mail system without the assistance of an attendant or a secretary.
Voice mail systems have since become an essential communications tool for businesses, government agencies, education institutions and communities. While providing convenience for the users to conduct business and for personal use, the usage of voice messages for communications creates a set of privacy problems.
In one example, John works for Central Realtors as a real estate broker. John uses the company's voice message system for both business and personal purposes. The company publishes a voice message usage policy, which respects the privacy of its employees. However, there is no tractable information to allow the company to distinguish between a business voice message and a personal voice message in order to apply usage measures as stated.
In another example, the management of Corner Technologies suspects that an employee has been leaking proprietary information to a competitor, and would like to collect evidence, including the employee's voice messages between Aug. 10 and Aug. 22, 2003. However, the employee has already deleted these voice messages, and there is no consistent backup procedure to ensure the availability of deleted voice messages.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a method and system for recording and analyzing voice message usage information. The present invention addresses such a need.